Money blogger

A blog about money related topics

Has alternative finance proven its worth?

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Alternative financing models such as crowdfunding, peer-to-peer financing and invoice trading are no longer at the fringes of the financial sector. Increasingly, these and other newly established financing vehicles are rapidly becoming mainstream options for entrepreneurs looking for more innovative and flexible ways to finance their growth.

According to a 2015 study by University of Cambridge and EY, the growth rates of some alternative financing options have been particularly impressive and look set to accelerate. In Europe alone, transaction volumes via alternative finance platforms grew six-fold in three years and were expected to surpass €7 billion (US$7.9 billion) in 2015, making alternative financing more accessible to early-stage businesses.

Necessity: the mother of invention

The 2008-09 financial crisis accelerated the development of alternative financing. Its immediate effect was to cause many of the developed world’s banks to cut back on their lending, particularly to early-stage businesses. The introduction of new bank capital regulations added further momentum because banks were forced to focus on building up large capital reserves instead of lending.

When EY surveyed entrepreneurs in G20 markets 2012, three-years after the crisis, two-thirds were still encountering difficulties accessing finance, with the funding gap felt particularly acutely by start-ups seeking pre-seed and seed funding. While other funding options remained for early-stage businesses – such as investment from friends and family, business angels and early-stage VC – demand for new, more flexible, forms of finance was emerging.

Since then, entrepreneurs have increasingly found alternative sources of finance offer the flexibility they need to support their plans to accelerate growth. As a result, demand for alternative finance has grown quickly, with nearly 10,000 SMEs accessing €385 million (US$434 million) in Europe over three years. Larger amounts of capital are also being raised, and in May 2016 the US introduced new regulations allowing start-ups to raise up to US$1m online within a 12-month period via crowdfunding.

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Newest Rules of FCA Regarding Forex Brokers

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Most of you may already know that FCA announces newest rules regarding forex brokers periodically. As a regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority keeps reviewing the forex market and to protect the interest of general public it continuously plans and develop strategies to make forex brokers and other financial institutions well regularized. The FCA has the sole responsibility to work in line with all entities entrusted with the public money and to issue the license to operate within the UK. There broke a news that FCA is going to announce some changes concerning the rules and regulations of forex brokers in 2018, however, for some reason, it got delayed and the newest rules of FCA regarding forex brokers 2018 are yet to be announced.

About Financial Conduct Authority – FCA

The Financial Conduct Authority is a well reputed regulatory authority that oversees forex brokers and similar entities in the UK. Working in collaboration with the PRA (Prudential Regulatory Authority) and BOE (Bank of England) it ensures to maintain a healthy trading environment and safeguard the trader’s interest. The prevention of financial irregularities and malpractices is considered to be the core tenet of the regulatory body. Fraud, promotional campaigns instigating people to get into forex trading, malfeasance and other similar practices gets frowned upon by Financial Conduct Authority – FCA.  [Read more…] about Newest Rules of FCA Regarding Forex Brokers

Avoid Common Day Trading Mistakes

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Fortunes are made and lost through stock trading. A day trader is particularly susceptible to making and/or losing money on a consistent basis. Avoiding the three most common mistakes made by new day traders can minimize the typical high risk to improve the odds of winning.

Day Trading Is, By Definition, Risky

All day trading definitions are similar. A day trader buys and sells securities throughout the trading day and closes all activities by the end of the daily period. The opposite of a buy and hold strategy, this action plan involves taking wins and losses daily.

Look at the many daily highs, lows, and overall volatility of online stock trading. Clearly, the risk/reward quotient is always high on both sides of the equation. Daily online trading can generate large profit and devastating losses.

A day trading strategy requires that the investor minimize risk and avoid common mistakes. The vagaries of the stock market will generate its own results without negative assistance from the trader. [Read more…] about Avoid Common Day Trading Mistakes

The Business of Trading Financial Markets

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Every financial market trader should ask, “Where do I want to be when I am finished with trading?” This is the same question every business owner should ask. A trading business may be the vehicle used to get to a specific destination, but a vision provides the real purpose — making money in the markets.

The next question ought to be, “What can I do to ensure my trading helps me achieve my goals?” Thinking about a set of actions, one should then articulate what are the goals and objectives.

This article summarizes some basic market trading knowledge and skills needed, and outlines a specific individual plan required to help achieve the desired objectives and success in trading markets.

Trading Market Skills

Trading stocks and equities is a business – buying or selling financial instruments, such as stocks, commodities, currencies, etc., with the intention of making a profit. There is a perception that trading is an easy way to wealth, but the reverse is true. Trading is hard work and requires: [Read more…] about The Business of Trading Financial Markets

How to Create an Investment Portfolio and Build Wealth

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In today’s financial market individual investors can create investment portfolios with little initial investment. Mutual funds companies and brokerage houses have made initial investing very affordable by requiring little cash outlays to open an account. Investment companies have also created many financial products targeted for individual investors who want to build wealth for the long term.

Keep Investment Cost Low

Brokers charge different fees to buy and sell stocks depending on the services offered. The full service brokerage houses may charge larger fees, while many of the discount or online brokers charge lower fees to buy and sell. Keeping investment cost low is important to obtain a better return on a stock position. However, individual investors using discount brokers need to perform a lot of the stock and market research on their own.

Mutual Funds companies offer a diverse pool of funds and each fund has its own expense schedule. These expenses are expressed as a percent of fund balance. It is recommended to stay below 1% for annual fund expenses to keep investing costs lost. [Read more…] about How to Create an Investment Portfolio and Build Wealth

When Expenses are Capitalized as Assets

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Booking something as an asset or an expense is not always black or white. There are many gray areas in accounting. It’s easy to know that a car or a building is an asset, but what about routine repairs to that car or building? When is it an expense, and when should those repairs be added to the cost of that asset (capitalized)?

As discussed with prepaid assets and unearned revenue, such routine repairs would always be considered an expense if it would only affect the current period of time. For instance an oil change would always be an expense, since it affects the car right then to help it run better. It could conceivably increase the useful life of the automobile but not increase its worth.

Improvements are Assets not Expenses

On the other hand if the engine died and had to be replaced, this would probably increase the car’s life as well as its worth. So the engine expense would be capitalized. The best self check is to ask yourself if the expense only affects the current period of time or if it will be an ongoing use for a year or more. Is the cost an improvement or merely a repair or maintenance charge?

Since an oil change has to be done every few months, it is obviously a current period expense. But a new or rebuilt engine would logically be expected to last for several years. So that expense would be added to the cost of the car. [Read more…] about When Expenses are Capitalized as Assets